Company

The C.F. Sauer Company

2000 West Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23220

Main Office
1-800-688-5676

Consumer Information
1-888-723-0052

C.F. Sauer Company Timeline

Having celebrated its 125th year in 2012, C.F. Sauer makes extracts, flavorings and spices. The privately owned company also sells mayonnaise, salad dressings, margarine and cooking oils under a variety of brand names, including Duke’s, Sauer’s, Gold Medal, BAMA and Mrs. Filbert’s.

1887: Conrad Frederick Sauer, a 21-year-old pharmacist, starts his own company on October 13, producing and selling pure-flavoring extracts in 5- and 10-gram bottles from the company’s first headquarters at the intersection of 17th Street and Broad Street.

1911: Sauer moves to 2000 W. Broad St., where the company’s headquarters remain. The company had 250 workers, including 48 salesmen.

1917: Sauer offers its pharmaceuticals for the war effort to President Woodrow Wilson, and Wilson accepts.

1927: C.F. Sauer Company becomes the nation’s largest producer of extracts and spices. C.F. Sauer, Jr. is elected president and treasurer of the company following the death of his father.

1929: Sauer buys Duke’s Products Company of Greenville, S.C. The Great Depression begins and a period of declining markets and the scarcity of raw materials challenges the company through World War II.

1948: The Joan Brooks Show, solely sponsored by Sauer, premiers on a Richmond radio station. Renamed The Sauer Show, it plays on 77 stations in 13 southern states until 1951.

1964: The company buys Dean Foods, a margarine manufacturer, which produces private-label and foodservice products.

1976: Sauer’s buys Metrolina Plastics Inc. of Shelby, N.C. to make plastic spice cans, bottles, and tops for company products. Metrolina’s operations are now adjacent to Sauer’s production complex in Richmond.

1984: C.F. Sauer Foodservice is created to make commercial recipes and flavorings.

1990-91: Company completes expansion of Greenville, S.C., manufacturing plant and adds new distribution center in Richmond.